Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, a four-time NBA World Champion, knows what greatness looks like, and he sees that potential with San Jose Sharks rookie centerman Macklin Celebrini.
So much so that Green on Friday compared the teenaged Celebrini to Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Before he played a game in the NHL, Celebrini, who turned 18 in June, was being likened to former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and, to some degree, two-time Hart Trophy winner and Cup champion Sidney Crosby.
Seven years ago, Toews and Crosby were named two of the NHL’s top 100 players of all time.
“When you’re being compared to the greats at 18? Man,” Green said after the Warriors’ 123-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. “LeBron James was compared to the greats at 18, and he outlived it. Mack has that thing, and I think to be compared to the greats at 18, whatever people’s hopes are or thoughts of what he will become, he’ll outdo that. And I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Green said he’s known Celebrini for years, as Macklin’s father, Rick, joined the Warriors in 2018 as the team’s director of sports medicine and performance. Even then, Green saw something special before Celebrini started to make a name for himself as a potential NHL star.
After a standout season last year at Boston University, where he became the youngest-ever winner of the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player, Celebrini was selected first overall by the Sharks at the NHL Draft in June.
“I had a conversation with him and was like, ‘Yo, you’re going be the No. 1 pick … at 12,” Green recalled. “And to see that come to fruition, and to know the work that he’s put in and everything that he’s up against, like, what a special talent to be 18 years old, and there’s nights where he’s the best player on the ice.
“I mean, wow.”
Green sported Celebrini’s No. 71 Sharks jersey to a recent Warriors home game, something the teenage player saw and appreciated.
“He’s a superfan,” Celebrini said with a smile.
While Green admires Celebrini’s skill set, with his skating, passing, and shooting ability, he especially loves to see how the Sharks rookie competes on a nightly basis.
Green pointed to the time two years ago when the Warriors were in Chicago, and he saw Celebrini play with the Chicago Steel in the USHL. In one sequence, Celebrini was knocked down after absorbing a hard hit, but didn’t just accept it. He responded by coming back and getting his own shot in on the opposing player, although, per Green’s recollection, Celebrini was assessed a penalty.
“When your best player has that type of attitude, it sets up your organization for success,” Green said.
Celebrini had four points in six games before the Sharks played the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. But when the Sharks played the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 10, Celebrini was held without a shot on goal.
Although Celebrini had five shots in the Sharks’ ensuing game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Green was more impressed with what Celebrini did away from the puck.
“First period of the next game, he was doing all the little things,” Green said. “Most 18-year-olds that have that skill level and do not get a shot on goal the entire night, they’re going to come out and press trying to get all the shots, and he’s out there getting in scrums, diving and saving pucks and so (the opposing team doesn’t have a clean breakout). He took one guy out (who) was about to have a breakaway.
“When you’re doing those little things and not consumed with, ‘I didn’t get a shot on goal. I have to get one on goal,’ most players — forget young guys – most players are going to feel that way. They don’t come out and do the little things. And I think that’s one of the things that you watch him, it makes him so special.”
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Green, being a native of Saginaw, Michigan, said he’s been hockey for a long time, partly because the NHL allows fighting, he joked. He played some floor hockey but never really got on the ice.
Still, he sees similarities between basketball and hockey, particularly in how good teams can effectively space out. He sees that quality in Celebrini’s game as well.
“You see how he finds space on the (ice). All of a sudden, he’ll loop right to the middle behind the defense and be ready,” Green said. “He just seems so much more advanced. His brain is as good, if not better, than his skill set, and his skill set is one of the best in the league already.
“So I am impressed by him, to say the least, and I’m looking forward to watching him chase greatness.”